


True Blue Lokison

by AlexDion



Series: Loki and Leif Series [3]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Brother Feels, F/M, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship, Gen, Romance, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-12
Updated: 2013-03-14
Packaged: 2017-11-29 01:52:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/681370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexDion/pseuds/AlexDion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Multi-chapter sequel to Son of Loki. </p><p>It has been five years since Leif Lokison met Loki and the Avengers, and the young man is now a bona fide agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Can Leif juggle with the stresses of his job as a super spy, his trouble-causing father, his friendships with the Avengers and his messy romances? He has to, after all, mischief runs deep in the family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. And We Meet Again

"Agent Lokison, do you copy?" Director Nick Fury's stern voice sounded over the ear piece.

Leif Lokison gazed around his surroundings with a light and arrogant air about him, giving a tiny grin as he did so. Groups of hostile looking men were dutifully patrolling the large factory he was now in, heavily armed with weapons and keeping an alert watch for any signs of possible intruders. However, the agent had managed to remain invisible from their sight, delicately hiding himself behind a humongous machine emitting whirring noises as he coolly contemplated his next move. If it wasn't for the fact that he had infiltrated into the base of a dangerous weapon-smuggling syndicate on a top-secret mission for S.H.I.E.L.D, one might actually mistake the man's nonchalant facial expression and carefree attitude as that of a bored boyfriend's, asked to accompany his lover while she was shopping for her prom dress. Leif's hand reached up slowly, pausing for a moment before pressing down on the button of his communication device.

"Crystal, Sir." The man answered in his usual smooth and silky tones. As Leif leant casually against the cooling metal of the machine, waiting for his superior's reply, his eyes flitted towards a short, balding man dressed in a smart black suit and standing on a platform at the second level of the factory, gazing down at the hundreds of workers toiling away with the assembly of various weapon parts.

_So that's Damien Gustov?_

In a split second, Leif recognised the midget as the ring leader of this syndicate he was sent here to destroy, his mind still fresh with the images of photos and information from the criminal's case-file that S.H.I.E.L.D had provided him with.

_Oh dear, he seems to be tinier than I had expected…_

The agent gave a low scornful laugh as he noted how miniscule his supposed target looked from a distance, supervising his employees' work from above and barking out orders to his considerably larger henchmen. With a build of that size, he was confident… no, sure that Gustov would be easy to apprehend. Leif may have excelled in many skills, but humility was clearly not one of them. They say that arrogance will lead to one's downfall sooner or later, but Leif Lokison had never been someone to pay heed to that wise bit of advice; not even if it means causing his superiors and teammates considerable grief with his flippant actions. The man was just musing about how this mission would be another piece of cake when Fury's impatient voice sounded over the communication device once more.

"What is your position, Agent?"

"I am inside, Sir," Leif answered smoothly, an amused smirk creeping over his face as he kept his eyes trained on the dwarf-like man. "In fact, the rabbit is right in front of me. Should I snare him now?"

"Negative, Agent. You need to wait for back up before rounding up on our target. He cannot be allowed to scoot down another one of his burrows again." Leif listened to Fury's grim voice and responded with a roll of his eyes, which (fortunately  _for_  the rebellious Agent) the director was unable to see.

_Really, Fury underestimates my abilities…_

"Lokison, do you copy?" The Director asked irritably again, obviously annoyed by Leif's lack of response. "You are supposed to break into enemy headquarters and obtain documents I have briefed you about earlier. You have orders, Agent; follow those orders!" Fury's last sentence was heavily lined with warning and Leif gave a peeved huff. The man had never been one to obediently follow orders. However, one of the key criteria of being an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D (as Phil had attempted to drill into him in the past) was to obey his superiors dutifully. Despite his usually unruly nature, Leif enjoyed his job too much to do anything that would possibly get him fired. And besides that, Fury had not so discretely threatened to kick the man's ass out of S.H.I.E.L.D if he managed to screw up any more missions during the earlier briefing. Leif was not frightened, nor intimidated, however being a smart fellow, he had decided that he would follow  _some_ orders; Well, at least to the extent where he would not jeopardise any missions.

"Roger that, Sir." Leif replied reluctantly, shooting one last grudging glance at his target.

_I will get you… soon._

"Alright Agent, get those documents pronto, and report back to me once you do. Backup will be arriving shortly." Fury commanded and Leif spitefully (and childishly) decided not to grace his boss with an answer. The man's attention turned to a small locked office at the top level of the building, located strategically such that Gustov would be able to observe all proceedings in his little factory with ease.

Leif smirked, and closed his eyes in concentration, willing his mind to focus on transporting his body into the room. A familiar tingling feeling shot through the whole of the man's body and when Leif opened his eyes once more, he found himself standing in the middle of a small, tidy office. His intended destination.

_Wonderful. Father's tricks really are convenient._

It has been 5 chaotic years since Leif learnt about his true identity as Loki's son and met the Avengers. After working with the group of superheroes to stop his father's diabolical plans to freeze New York City, Leif had unsurprisingly been accepted as part of the team. Despite being an unofficial member of the Avengers, the young man had continued to live and work with them, as well as irk Tony Stark to no ends. And two years ago, on Leif's 21st birthday, the day when he became legally adult, Phil Coulson had presented him with his most coveted gift yet: A S.H.I.E.L.D identity card. No longer was Leif an outsider, no longer was he a boy who merely tagged along uninvited for missions; he was now a member of S.H.I.E.L.D, and an official part of the team.

After all the touched tears, cheerful congratulations and half-hearted grumbles (no prizes to those who can guess who it was), a rather troubling problem emerged: So what will Leif's codename be? The members of the Avengers had varying attitudes towards this question, ranging from seriousness to outright ridicule, and after Thor insisted that a warrior's title is 'no laughing matter', all of them chipped in and suggested different titles, some more ridiculous than the others.

Leif rejected Thor's proposal of 'Leif, the Shrewd' outright, much to his uncle's disappointment because to be honest, he had no desire to sound like some ancient warrior. Phil had also dryly pointed out that the purpose of a codename is to conceal an agent's name, not flaunt it. ("Yeah Pointbreak, I thought you were the one who said that this is no laughing matter?") Tony Stark smugly mentioned something like 'Spawn of Satan', or 'Satan's Spawn', which only resulted in Thor pointing out that Leif's father is Loki, not Satan. The slice of cake the billionaire was holding also 'mysteriously' flew up and smashed into the man's face with a sickening splat, and everyone present, even Thor, could deduce who the culprit behind this stunt was simply by the gleeful smirk on Leif's face. After a few more unsuccessful suggestions, Phil Coulson finally decided to step up and save the day.

The S.H.I.E.L.D agent first explained that since all previous assassins and superheroes were given titles based on their best-known abilities, Leif's codename should reflect his signature move. As Leif's favourite move was a handy bit of magic that Loki had taught him during their first few lessons, it wasn't long before they decided on a title that pleased Leif and satisfied all of the Avengers as well: The Illusionist. Even Tony gave an unknowing grunt which everyone interpreted as approval when Pepper poked him in the ribs while the billionaire was busy wiping cake off his face.

In the following years, Leif proved to be a valuable addition to S.H.I.E.L.D, completing missions allocated to him promptly (although sometimes with 'minor' accidents) as well as helping the organisation with his skills and magic that Loki had duly taught him over the years. However, no one is perfect and it was no surprise when Director Fury mentioned with aggravation on countless occasions that Leif needed to 'curb' his insolent ways. As expected, the man turned out to be as much of a drama queen as his father was and Nick Fury often found himself suffering from near cardiac arrests and wearing out hundreds of stress balls whenever his sassy subordinate chose to end a mission with a 'boom' (which was rather frequently).

Despite all this, even Fury  _and Stark_  could not deny the fact that Leif's heart was in the right place, or that his abilities and skills did help the organisation and team. Therefore, despite the numerous run-ins he had with the man, Nick Fury found himself continuously sending Leif out for missions to maintain peace on Earth. Missions like this one.

_Time to collect the documents..._

Leif gazed around his surroundings quickly, his emerald eyes scanning past the black leather sofa, mahogany desk and Gustov's revolting self-portrait before resting on a bulky metal safe. With a wicked grin plastered on his face, the man strode briskly across the room towards the safe and inspected it carefully, giving an amused chuckle as he observed the three keyholes and number lock on the safe.

_Looks like someone is being ultra-cautious…_

Shaking his head with a mock sigh, Leif placed his right palm over the door of the safe. The agent's brows furrowed with concentration and in a matter of minutes, the metal door of the safe was reduced to a puddle of molten silvery liquid on the floor, leaving the papers in the safe exposed and ripe for the picking.

_So much for keyholes and number-locks…_

A smug grin flitted over Leif's face as he casually picked up the papers in the destroyed safe and sifted through the pile, his sharp eyes glancing through the information on the documents. Perfect. This was exactly what Fury was after. With the information they would gain from these papers, it would not be long before S.H.I.E.L.D could round up on the entire weapon smuggling ring and take down the other minor ring leaders of this illegal syndicate. The agent tucked the papers protectively into his black leather jacket and strode over to the window of the office, peering down at the short man below him who was still distracted by his employees' progress.

_Now there is only Gustov left to take care of._

"Director, I got the documents." Leif muttered into the earpiece quietly, still wearing a sly smile on his face. The communication device crackled as Fury's voice sounded from the other end.

"Excellent Agent! Backup is on the way to take down enemy base. Till then, remain out of sight and wait for further orders." Fury commanded firmly and the wicked grin on Leif's face grew wider.

"Oh? I don't think there is a need for backup," Leif replied gleefully as he continued eyeing his target.

"What?" The Director's voice was mixed with disbelief and tension. A considerable amount of tension. And considering the numerous times he had experienced Leif's erratic side on missions, it was a surprise that the man had not burst an artery yet.

"I said there is no need for backup," Leif repeated smugly. "I can take him down on my own." The agent gave a tiny snigger as some sputtering noise sounded over the communication device. It seemed as though Fury had choked in his haste to berate the agent for his defiance of orders.

"Don't worry, Fury old pal. Relax... I got this." Leif said soothingly and promptly switched off his earpiece before Fury could start a furious rant over his subordinate's 'blatant disregard for orders' and 'insolence'. The agent knew from past experiences that Nick Fury can be rather  _loud_  over an earpiece when he is pissed off, and he did not fancy losing his acute sense of hearing.

Turning away from the window, Leif walked out of the office with a semblance of cool, cocky calm. As he strode confidently along the narrow corridor, brazenly approaching the location of Gustov and his numerous henchmen, multiple duplicates of the agent flickered and materialised behind him, all wearing identical devilish smirks.

Yes, the Illusionist was ready for battle.

XXX

Clint Barton stared with bemusement at the flaming red glow in the distance. Dark grey smoke spiralled from the burning remains of what should have been one of the biggest weaponry factories of a smuggling ring and Hawkeye could still hear another deafening explosion from within the building as the quinjet landed. In the short 45 seconds Clint took to unbuckle his seat belt, grab his bow and exit the aircraft, the figure of Leif Lokison materialised amidst all the smoke along with a limp figure in tow. As the younger agent strode gleefully towards his partner, dragging his unconscious captive along, Clint could not help but grin at the smug look on his friend's face.

"You came too late for the party." Leif informed him lightly as he released his hold on Gustov's collar and allowed the short man to land on the dusty ground with a thud.

"Sure seems that way," Clint muttered as he stared at the immobile body of the criminal. "He's not dead right? Fury wanted him alive." The marksman added warily and Leif gave a nasty smirk.

"He's not," The young man quipped as he gave his captive a kick in the shin, eliciting a moan of pain from the man. "Well, at least not yet." Leif added with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and Clint shook his head wearily. He has worked with Leif over the years, and although he was much more tolerable towards Leif's methods compared to Fury, the young man's reckless antics still bugged him in one way or another. Hawkeye was used to it, but it didn't mean that he agreed to it.

"Get him into the quinjet," Clint ordered one of the agents who had trailed out after him and was now staring at the motionless body with surprise. After a stunned second, two S.H.I.E.L.D agents came over and lifted the unconscious Gustov up by his arms. "Oh! And remember to cuff him!" Clint called out after his two comrades, although he himself doubted the need for any restrains on the incapacitated man. Hawkeye turned back to Leif, who was still wearing a big conceited grin on his face and decided that yes, restrains was unnecessary. He was sure Leif had taken care of that fact.

XXX

"So… do you mind telling me what happened in there? I  _was_  supposed to write a report too, you know?" Clint mentioned dryly, as Leif, who was sitting next to him on the quinjet, flashed him an unconvincingly apologetic grin. The duo was now heading back to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, and even though this entire fiasco had  _not_  been his fault, Hawkeye had a sinking feeling in his stomach about reporting to Fury later.

"Don't worry, you didn't miss much," The younger agent smirked as he patted Clint on the shoulder. "Just some bullets flying through my illusions, unearthly high pitched screams, blasting up the generators," Leif listed his heroics contentedly while Clint listened with exasperation. "A series of wonderful explosions and last but not least, a well-planned, stealthy escape along with my prize." Leif concluded gleefully with a nod towards the feebly stirring Gustov. Clint heaved a heavy sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fury's gonna murder you." The marksman mumbled, ignoring the Cheshire cat grin that Leif was annoyingly still wearing on his face. Obviously the kid had no sense of urgency,  _or_  danger. A furious Fury is dangerous.

"And I thought Fury should be pleased, considering how I saved him precious time and manpower by completing this task alone," Leif argued. "I don't understand why he insists on wasting resources on backup when I can obviously handle this by myself." The young man ended with a huff.

"Maybe it's because he wants the targets captured alive, and not toasted into a crisp like last time." Clint reminded Leif with amusement.

" _That_  was an accident." The young agent replied sourly and the older agent gave a chuckle at the look of resentment on his face. What Leif said had not been a lie, after all. It had been a pure stroke of rotten luck and bad timing that the furnace door opened when it shouldn't have. However, it had also been unfortunate that Fury wasn't one to pin blame on misfortune either.  _Someone_ had to take responsibility for being a tad reckless as well.

"Besides, I completed this mission perfectly well by my own, didn't I?" Leif added with a hopeful shine in his eyes. "Maybe Fury will see this time that I am fully capable of acting solo." Clint gave a laugh of amusement at the young man's words.

"I doubt that," Hawkeye grinned as he gazed at the questioning look on Leif's face. "After hearing Fury's colourful vocabulary when you announced that you 'got this', I'm fearing for your safety when we get back to base." Leif gave a wicked smirk after listening to his friend's statement.

"Really? So what did he say?" Leif inquired.

"Something along the lines of 'cocky bastard', 'blatant disregard of orders', and 'little fucking piece of shit'," Clint recounted absent-mindedly before a puzzled frown appeared on his face. "Wait, how could you not know what he said? I had to remove my earpiece halfway through the flight and even then, I could hear Fury's voice blaring when I held it an arm's length away." Leif grinned and quickly hid his mirth with an unknowing shrug when Hawkeye looked at him with suspicion.

"Must be the explosions in that place," Leif replied, struggling to contain his amusement at the thought of Fury's apparent frenzy. "Yep, those explosions were deafening."

"Uh huh," Clint stared at the evil gleam in the young man's eyes, unconvinced. The marksman's attention then turned towards the unblinking light on Leif's earpiece. "By the way, did you know that your communicator is turned off?" The young man's eyebrows shot up comically in mock surprise after hearing Clint's question.

"Now how did  _that_  happen?" Leif asked innocently as he reached up to switch his earpiece on again. Clint gave a groan at the young man's flippancy. Yep, they were dead meat once Fury gets his hands on them, no doubt about it.

"Fury's going to kill you," Clint mumbled bemusedly once more as Leif continued grinning, undaunted by the threat that lay ahead. "And Fury's going kill me too; I am supposed to be your mentor." The archer rubbed his face exasperatedly, lamenting the day Leif was assigned to him as his trainee. No wonder Natasha smirked like the cat with the biggest bowl of cream when Fury announced that Leif will be under Clint's charge.

"Damn it kid!" Clint exclaimed at last after another silent 5 minutes of mourning his bad luck. Leif, who had his eyes closed in relaxation by then, opened them again and turned to gaze at his 'mentor', generously deciding to ignore the marksman's slip-up at referring to him as 'kid'. Leif is a grown-up now, after all, even if he doesn't act like one. However, despite that, some nicknames will stick to a person no matter how old one gets, and most, if not all of the Avengers, still seem too used to calling him kid when they talk to him.

"I mean, can't you just follow orders for once? Do you have any idea what continuing to disregard Fury's commands would mean?" Clint asked in vexation. Leif simply flashed him an infuriating grin once more.

"Of course, it means that I will be home in time for dinner." Leif replied smugly and chuckled at the look of disbelief on Clint's face.

XXX

Fury had not been happy. Even after Leif presented the documents and Gustov to the raging director, along with his most sincere apologies, the young agent's poor eardrums had not been spared from his superior's wrath. And now, with his ears throbbing painfully and marvelling about the strength of Fury's lungs, Leif was merrily on his way home, driving back to the apartment he shared with Loki.

After Loki left five years ago to think things through by himself, Leif and Thor had returned back to Asgard to account for all the events that happened on Earth a month after the boy's recovery. Thor had volunteered then, to travel across the realms in search of Loki and to bring his brother back to Asgard. However, much to the surprise of Thor, Leif and everyone else in the hall, Odin had refused Thor's suggestion.

"But, Father-" Thor had protested but to no avail when Odin silenced him with a raise of his hand. The look of disappointment on Thor's face was indescribable, and even Leif, who was relieved that his father would not be hunted down by an army of warriors could not help but feel discouraged by the fact that Odin did not seem to think that his wayward son was worth searching for any longer.

"It would be futile to bind Loki's body to Asgard if his mind is not with us," Odin explained wisely. "We all have to learn from our past mistakes." The god added and Leif had an idea that Loki was not the only one his grandfather referred to by that sentence. "Loki may have left us once more but I am sure that he will return one day, and when he does, we will have to do all we can to keep him with us." Odin concluded. Leif did not miss the knowing look in Odin's eye when the god gazed at him after his speech and he knew that somehow, this sentence was meant for him.

Later that day, Leif secretly asked Thor in private if the Thunder God understood what Odin meant with his words, but all his uncle could say was: "Father always has a reason for his actions."

Sure enough, as Odin predicted, Loki returned later that year on Christmas day itself to partake in the festivities and in the coming years, appeared more and more frequently on Earth to spend time with Leif. However, the god never remained on Earth for long even with Thor and Leif's continuous coaxing and it was not until his son's 21st birthday when the trickster finally succumbed to Leif's request of staying with him.

In order to avoid any possible future conflicts between his father and his friends, Leif moved out of the Avengers' Tower (which was set up as living quarters for the Avengers because Tony simply could not stand them any longer), and rented a nice little apartment nearby. Loki had kept his word and came to live with his son, which was approved by the Allfather himself as long as Loki promised not to cause trouble on Earth. Therefore, Leif had been leading a happy but not so peaceful life in his apartment along with Loki, and joined by the occasional presence of Thor whenever his uncle came down from Asgard to visit, much to Loki's disgust.

Yes, life was great, Leif thought as he reached the front door of his home. And he was sure Loki was waiting impatiently for him to return for dinner.

"I'm back!" Leif grinned as he swung the door open. Greeting him was the sight of his father, slumped down on the sofa and staring at the television screen with an extremely sour look on his face. Loki's expression did not change upon hearing his son's arrival either, and Leif found himself grinning at the grouchy god as he turned to face him.

"So… what's bothering you today?" Leif asked teasingly. Before Loki could reply with a scornful remark, a loud clatter of pans in the kitchen told the man all he needed to know.

"What else?" Loki hissed in annoyance as a quick patter of footsteps sounded and a joyful Darcy burst out from the kitchen.

"You're back!" Darcy Lewis squealed in excitement as she wrapped her arms around Leif in a hug. The woman then proceeded to ruffle her lover's hair playfully. "I am going to make Vegetable Lasagna today, it's a new recipe I learnt!" Leif grinned at Darcy's enthusiasm, even after all these years, she still acted adorably like a child.

"That sounds great, Darcy!" Leif replied warmly and Darcy beamed at him before bouncing back to the kitchen.

"Yep! Just relax for a moment! Dinner will be ready soon!" The woman called out cheerfully and Leif chuckled as he plopped down on the seat next to an extremely irritated Loki.

"Come on, Father, cheer up!" Leif grinned as he stared at the grumpy expression on the god's face. "Darcy's cooking isn't that bad." Loki made some sort of an intangible hissing, grumbling sound and Leif smirked at his father's apparent displeasure.

Looks like it's going to be another long evening indeed.


	2. And the Story Begins

Leif reached for the remote and changed the channel from the corny soap that Loki was watching to the evening news, ignoring his father’s indignant hiss. As he laid back and relaxed on the couch, there was another series of loud clanging noises echoing from the kitchen. Darcy had inevitably dropped some kitchenware again. Leif could only hope it was not that dear little copper pot that Loki was so fond of or he would have another riot on his hands.

“She is going to destroy our kitchen. Again!”  Loki hissed angrily as he alternated between glaring at the kitchen doorway and his son. Leif however, decided at that moment to pay his full attention to the weather lady on television.

“She does it every time! Denting the pots, massacring our pans! And you had the nerve to call my past assault of New York a crime! Well, it’s nothing compared to her assault of our ki-” Loki stopped his rant abruptly after realising that his son was ignoring him. “Leif.”

“What? No worries... We will just buy new ones.” Leif answered in a bored tone as he continued staring at the television screen. After years of hearing his father bitch about ‘their’ kitchen over and over again, the young man had learnt to take a placating approach to it. After all, the kitchen only became _‘their’_ kitchen when Darcy decided to cook or Thor wanted to prepare Pop tarts. Leif had gotten tired of pointing out to Loki that the god himself nearly blew up half their apartment the first few times he decided to use the microwave to make popcorn as well.

“Oh! So now you can afford to renovate our entire kitchen every single time your crazy girlfriend decides to decimate it due to some whimsical fantasy of her being a gourmet chef, do you?” Loki spat in frustration and Leif idly wondered where his father could have possibly found the breath to rant in such long, fancy sentences. Perhaps his lungs were as strong as Fury’s were.

After seeing that Leif wasn’t going to rebuff his sentence in any way, Loki shot one final glare at the kitchen before leaning back on the couch in a huff. The Norse God had never approved of his son’s wacky girlfriend or her cooking ever since the first time he had laid eyes on her when she visited their apartment 3 years ago. The fact that she had been a close friend of Thor’s did not help either. However, since Leif had so pig-headedly insisted on keeping their relationship, Loki had to begrudgingly accept the fact that Darcy’s visits were an inevitable part of staying with Leif.

Another sudden deafening crash caused Loki to stiffen up and even Leif turned to glance anxiously towards the kitchen.

“Is everything alright back there, Darcy?” The young man called out and Loki gave a cynical snort. _Obviously not_.

“Yea! Yea! Everything is just fine! Don’t worry about it! I can handle this.” Darcy shouted cheerily and Loki rolled his eyes. _‘Fine’, she says. The girl has probably burnt down half the kitchen and is covered in tomato sauce now._

“Can we order pizza for tonight?” Loki asked dryly. “I want a Hawaiian.” He smirked at the glare his son shot him.

“I wish you would stop being so mean Father,” Leif chided. “Darcy is trying her best.”

“Please do not be mistaken Leif. I do not doubt her efforts, but her standard of cooking is rather questionable.” Loki replied snidely and Leif gave a sigh of exasperation. Loki’s blatant disapproval of Darcy had placed him on the spot many times in the past, and the man is so used to it that he doesn’t even bother to argue with the god now. He did secretly agree with Loki regarding Darcy’s cooking though.

“Perhaps today would be an exception.” Leif suggested lightly and Loki gave another sceptical snort. “Come on, if Uncle can stomach Darcy’s cooking, surely you could do so as well?” Leif said slyly and grinned at the dirty look Loki gave him. His father was still a little touchy when it came to matters regarding Thor.

“Fury is right. You are insufferable.” The god snapped as he turned back to the television screen huffily. Leif chuckled.

“You were spying on me today again, huh?” Leif asked. Loki had a habit of using his powers to watch Leif with his mind as he performed his job whenever he was free. Leif had used to complain that it was creepy and that Loki should take up collecting stamps in his free time as a hobby instead, but soon accepted it as a way that his father could show his concern. “Aw, you care so much about me. I am touched.” The young man teased and Loki made an irate sound.

“Firstly, I was observing you, not spying.” The god hissed in annoyance. “Secondly, I am only doing so to ensure that you do not do anything that could potentially get yourself as well as me into trouble. After all, you are but a child.” Loki finished with a smirk as he watched his son bristle at his final sentence.

“I am 23 years old and legally adult, thank you very much.” Leif pointed out indignantly and Loki grinned.

“On Asgard you would hardly qualify as a fledgling.” Loki countered smugly, pleased that he had pushed Leif’s hot buttons. Leif seemed about to argue back when a loud singing rang from the kitchen. There was a moment’s silence as both of them listened to Darcy’s off-pitch rendition of Lady Gaga’s ‘Born this Way’ before Leif snickered in amusement and Loki grimaced.

“I do not understand what you see in her.” Loki said sourly. Leif stared back at Loki with an amused grin as Darcy screamed the high chords.

“Oh come on, Dad. She’s not that bad.” Loki’s expression darkened a little. The god disliked these Midgardian terms of addressing fathers and Leif knew it. The boy was doing it on purpose.

“Don’t call me that,” he snapped as Leif simply smirked back at him.

“Ok Pop.”

“I am warning you.” Loki growled menacingly as Leif continued grinning in an irritating manner at him. “And she is that bad. She is only a mere human, Leif! She is mortal.”

“My mother was human.” Leif pointed out and Loki hissed in annoyance.

“Don’t you dare compare your mother with her!” The god snapped. “Your mother was different. She was intelligent, brave and perfect. Darcy is –if you would excuse the term- batty! Sometimes I even wonder if her intellect is on the same level as Thor’s and that’s saying something!” Loki sneered nastily.

“Well, Darcy’s cute.” Leif replied with a nonchalant shrug and Loki glared back at him in disbelief. Sometimes he wonders where the boy got his pig-headedness from. Perhaps Thor’s dumbness was catching.

“You think every girl is cute.” The god said accusingly. “You and Darcy had broken up seven times over the past five years because you were being a ‘complete cheating ass-wagon’.” Loki smirked as Leif shot him a furious look. The young man then glanced nervously towards the kitchen before turning back to Loki.

 “You have some nerve to talk. You forgot to mention that out of these seven times, four were caused by you!” Leif snapped back in hushed tones as he glared at Loki, who did not even have the decency to look abashed. “Our relationship would have been a lot smoother if you hadn’t schemed and sabotaged it in the past.”

“Yes, yes.” Loki drawled mockingly. “And another had been so petty that you two got back together in a day. Curse these women and their pre-menstrual periods, am I right?” He smirked at the annoyed look on Leif’s face. “By the way, does she know about this other artist girl you had been seeing more often of late? What’s her name again, Daphne? Donna?”

“Diana. Her name is Diana. And she is just a friend. A good friend.” Leif replied hotly as he glared at Loki’s smug look. He knew his father too well. There was no doubt Loki was up to something again. “I am warning you Father, don’t even think about doing anyth-”

“Well, well. Diana, is it? Such a charming name.” Loki interrupted him with a smirk. “I believe Darcy would just love to get acquainted with darling Diana and learn about the amount of time you spend with this lovely girl, don’t you th-” At that very moment, Loki’s words were muffled by a cushion forcefully shoved into his face as Leif pounced on his father and started pummelling him with the cushions on the couch. The duo then rolled down onto the ground in a yelling, wrestling heap.

“Wow! What are you guys doing?”

Leif paused in his act of squashing Loki with a furry blue cushion and stared up at a surprised Darcy, who gazing at them curiously. The young man hurriedly stood up and smoothed out his clothes, giving his lover a sheepish smile as he did so.

“Nothing. We were just play-wrestling.” Leif laughed awkwardly and ruffled his hair, making it even more untidy then it had been. Loki emerged out from under the cushions and shot both his son and Darcy withering glares.

“Ooh, sounds fun!” Darcy squealed in excitement. “Can I join in?”

“You most certainly can’t” Loki snapped tartly and Leif nearly burst his gut trying not to laugh at the sight of his furious father with his hair sticking out in all directions.

“Oh,” Darcy said, looking slightly disappointed that she missed out on the fun. “Well, I came in to say that dinner is ready!” She added with a happy grin. Leif returned her smile while Loki gave a sarcastic snort.

“Oh goody. We can hardly wait.” The god replied scathingly and Leif shot his father one last warning glare before following Darcy to the dining table.

Loki sourly smoothed his hair down before making his way slowly and pompously to the table. There, Darcy had carefully set out three sets of plates and cutlery and placed a steaming tray of Lasagna in the centre of the table. Loki glanced down distastefully at the dish. It seemed acceptable but the god had had too many negative experiences where Darcy’s cooking was concerned to be fooled by appearances. Besides him, Leif gave a low whistle.

“Wow! It looks great Darcy!” The young man grinned and the god rolled his eyes.

“They feed better slop to the animals on Asgard.” Loki sneered nastily and then gave a hiss of pain when Leif elbowed him in the ribs.

“Ignore him, Darce.” Leif said comfortingly to Darcy. The girl however, did not appear to be fazed. Leif deduced that it must be credited either to her having known Loki for a few years or to her dizzy, bubbly nature. Or both. On the contrary, Darcy seemed to be gazing at Loki in puzzlement rather than anger.

“How did you know what the slop on Asgard tastes like?” The girl asked finally and Loki nearly gagged in his disbelief at her question. Leif, however, smirked and placed his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders affectionately. Trust Darcy to focus on such a random point in Loki’s words.

“Don’t worry your pretty head over that fact Darcy.” Leif said as he smirked annoyingly at an irate Loki. “I am sure Father had tasted many different things in his lengthy lifetime.”

XXX

Thor stood on the balcony of the castle, gazing out at the majestic golden skylines of Asgard. Times were peaceful in this realm now, and had been for the past few years. Thor smiled. Just as he had yearned for war and battle in his youth, he now craved for peace and prosperity in Asgard, and he would do his best to maintain that peace.

Beside him, Odin gave a tiny sigh. The All father was no longer as young or fit as he used to be. It had been years past the time he had decided to pass the throne to Thor and his first born had proven time and again that he was worthy, both of the throne and the Mjolnir. Odin should have been able to step down a long time ago and pass the burden of Asgard onto Thor’s shoulders, but his son had stubbornly insisted on becoming king only when Loki returned and was able to attend his coronation ceremony.

Although his younger brother had apparently turned over a new leaf and was now staying with his nephew on Midgard, Thor had been unsuccessful in persuading him to return to Asgard; to return home. Odin had told Thor not to rush things and chase Loki away again. The old king knew how both his sons can be equally stubborn. However, this meant that it would probably be ages before Loki would return and Thor would take over the throne. Although Thor had tried his best to help his father where political matters were concerned, the burden of ruling Asgard still had a heavy toll on Odin’s health.

“I had guessed that both of you would be here.” Thor and Odin turned around to see Frigga smiling warmly at them. The queen strode towards her husband and son and stood between them, gazing admiringly at the view as well. “Asgard is so beautiful and tranquil now, isn’t it?” She asked softly.

“Aye, Mother.” Thor agreed with a smile.

“The times are peaceful. The people are happy. Everything is perfect.” Frigga said. However, her smile turned rueful after a few seconds. “Almost perfect. If only Loki was here with us.” The queen’s contented expression turned into one of longing and sorrow as she stared out at the golden city, recalling the memories of her estranged son. “He loved the view from this balcony as well.”

Thor’s smile faltered as he stared out past all the blindingly golden buildings and into the space where he knew Midgard was. Where Loki was. His brother had obstinately refused to return even after all these years, and no matter what Thor said or did seemed to move him. If only Loki knew how much their mother had missed him. If only Loki knew how much all his family missed him. If only he knew.

“Do not worry, my wife.” Odin said comfortingly as he placed a hand on Frigga’s shoulder. “I am confident that it will not be long before Loki returns to us. Give him some time to be ready. When he is, our family will be whole again.” Frigga smiled at her husband’s assuring words and a silence followed as the royal family continued admiring the serene peace of their kingdom, lost in hopeful thoughts for the future.

However, it was not soon before Odin gave a sudden start and frowned, his grip on Frigga’s shoulder tightening involuntarily.

“Odin, is something the matter?” Frigga asked anxiously. Odin’s brows furrowed and Thor glanced at his father questioningly.

“Father?” Odin’s eyes met Thor’s, and the younger god was taken aback by the grim look on the older one’s face.

“Someone has infiltrated the Weapons’ Vault.”

XXX

As Thor and Odin rushed to the Weapons’ Vault with the Mjolnir and Gungnir ready in hand, they found the two guards on duty dead at the entrance. Thor stared at the bodies momentarily before barging furiously into the room and spotting a dark figure hidden under a cloak and hood. The hood shadowed the man’s face and the only feature the Thunder god saw were his pearly white teeth as the man flashed him a grin before he vanished into thin air. Thor gave a roar of anger as he charged in vain to the place where the man had once been.

After looking around and realising that the man had indeed escaped via teleportation, the god’s shoulders slumped as he cursed silently under his breath.

“Thor.” The Thunder god turned to Odin, who gazed back at him grimly. “He has taken the Orb of Agamotto and the Tablet of Life and Time.”

 


	3. Suspicions Arise

"Many sorcerers of great skill had veiled themselves from my view in the past. However, to be in possession of abundant knowledge about the royal palace and to know of passageways to Asgard which even I am blind to; there had only ever been one." Heimdall's deep voice echoed around the large chamber of the bifrost.

Thor, who had came to inquire about the mysterious intruder's identity, was confused for a moment before the full weight of the guardian's words sank in. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the Thunder god felt an uncontrollable surge of rage burst from within him.

"Loki would never do such a thing! Do not sully his name till you have proof of his guilt, Heimdall!" Thor roared. The taller man before him stared back unblinkingly before giving a curt nod.

"As you wish, your highness." Heimdall replied in his usual monotonous voice. "But, I have merely spoken the truth, and the truth alone." The guardian's golden eyes were as emotionless as usual and he did not seem in any way fazed or intimidated by his prince's wrath. This infuriated Thor even more.

The Thunder god shot Heimdall one final glare before swinging the Mjolnir and flying back to the castle. When he reached the entrance, the Warriors Three and Lady Sif were already waiting impatiently for him. However, Thor ignored them and their anxious glances, striding past the four quickly. His heart was pounding furiously and his mind was now in a blur. The god did not have the time or the mood to explain anything to his friends now. He must see Odin at once.

"Thor! We heard of the intrusion!" Fandral shouted as the Warriors Three and Sif hastened to catch up with their prince. "We know you had been to see Heimdall! What did he say?" 

"The intruder had hidden himself from Heimdall's view. Our guardian knows not who he is." Thor boomed as he continued walking furiously towards his father's chambers, careful to leave out the hints of Loki’s possible participation in the incident. "I must have words with my father immediately." The warriors exchanged nervous glances with each other before Sif decided to speak up.

"Thor. The intruder- it's not Loki, is it?"

Hearing this, the Thunder god stopped abruptly in his tracks and the warriors all froze as well. There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone kept quiet out of fear of further provoking the prince. Thor clenched his fists tightly as Heimdall’s words repeated in his head.

_There had only ever been one..._

The Thunder god was fuming now, not at Sif, nor at Heimdall, but at himself. He was furious at the tinge of doubt that had risen in his heart when Heimdall mentioned Loki as the main suspect. He hated how he is unable to step up to his friends now and declare his brother's innocence confidently because he is unsure of it himself. It is natural for Heimdall to suspect Loki. It is not surprising for Sif and the Warriors Three to doubt their second prince. But Thor is Loki's brother. Even if the entire world turned on the God of Lies, Thor would never stop believing in him. He _should_ never stop believing in him. He owed Loki and himself that much. 

Thor turned to face his friends and they all winced slightly at the grim look he gave them.

"I believe in Loki. My brother would never do such a thing." The Thunder god said with a fiery determination burning in his eyes. For the first time in their lives, the Warriors Three and Sif saw him as the king he really was and all of them knew better then to argue any further.

"Well, what do you plan on doing now?" Fandral asked meekly while Volstagg simply left his jaw hanging in awe.

"I shall request my father's permission to leave for Earth," Thor answered grimly. "And I will seek my brother's assistance in this matter."

XXX

Leif pulled on his favourite leather jacket, checked his appearance in the mirror and ruffled his hair just to get that airy messy look before he stepped out of his room. 

"Going out again Leif?" 

The young man turned to his father, who was lazing on the couch watching some boring old documentary about trees in on television with a huge bowl of buttered popcorn on his lap. Sometimes he makes Leif wonder if the Aesir could possibly get diabetes like humans do. He decided that he would have to sit down for a talk with Loki regarding the amount of sweet food the god consumed in the future. But now was not the time. Leif had a date. Sort of.

"Yep." The young man answered simply. Loki turned away from the TV just as the man on screen started rambling about this particular 10,000 year old oak and took in the image of his son disdainfully. Leif was wearing a simple 'Maroon 5' T-shirt under his jacket along with a pair of black Levi's jeans and Loki clucked his tongue in disapproval of his son's fashion sense. Nonetheless, all earlier attempts the god had made to drag Leif to Armani and Burberry stores in the past had been shot down by the young man's adamant refusal to 'dress like a full tilt diva' and Loki had long given up on salvaging his son's wardrobe. 

"Don't you have work today?" Loki asked casually as he lazily placed an arm on the backrest of the couch and popped a kernel of popcorn into his mouth.

"Nope, I am having a vacation for the rest of this month." Leif answered lightly and Loki gave a tiny smirk.

" _Having a vacation_ ," the god mimicked annoyingly. "More like Fury suspended your 'sorry ass' till the end of the month for that 'arrogant, motherfucking one-man stunt' you did yesterday." Loki ended with amusement and Leif shot a dirty look at his father.

"If you already know, why the fuck do you bother asking?" The young man demanded irritably, scowling at the sight of the god's grin.

"Oh, I just like to see the miserable look on your face." Loki replied gleefully. "And please do inform your highly esteemed Director the next time you see him that I do not approve of his language regarding your mother." After saying that, the god smirked and turned back to the television screen, leaving Leif to glare at the back of his head.

The young man gave a huff of indignation and strode crossly towards the door. Trust Loki to ruin his mood so early in the morning! Leif was just about to reach into his pocket for his key when Loki suddenly spoke up again. 

"Darcy is not in New York at the moment, is she?"

_Well... fuck._

Leif found himself turning to stare at Loki with exasperation.

"No, she isn't. What are you up to now?" Leif snapped in infuriation and Loki flashed him a innocent grin.

"Now now, don't take that tone with me, Leif. I was merely curious. She did mention last night that she would be leaving for Texas for a week to help that woman of Thor's in her research, didn't she?"

"Oh my, and I thought you were too busy moaning about being sick from the lasagna to care." Leif retorted sarcastically and Loki grimaced at the memory of Darcy's cooking. Leif took advantage of his father's slight pause to unlock the door and was just about to leave when Loki stopped him again. 

"Since Darcy is not around, this means that you are meeting that Donna today?"

Leif gave a hiss of irritation. Looks like Loki is on another one of his sugar highs and decided to aggravate him on purpose again. Leif made a solemn oath to cut down on his father's popcorn supply.

"Her name is Diana, and I believe I should inform you that I have many other friends as well, Father." 

Loki laughed and gave an irritating 'if you say so' shrug.

"Well, have fun with your _friend_ ," Loki smirked, ignoring the glare Leif shot him. "And do remember to buy sushi home for dinner tonight. Order more of those Tuna rolls please." The god added and Leif felt himself grinning at his father's request despite the earlier frustrations.

_Payback time._

"What? So you aren't going to cook today?" The young man asked in an overly sweet tone.

"Well, yes," the god rolled his eyes. "You cannot possibly expect me to step into the kitchen after the atrocities your girlfriend had done to it." Loki replied scornfully and Leif smirked.

"Yes indeed. And I am sure the fact that you had almost burnt down the walls of the kitchen the last time you attempted to prepare ‘the perfect meal’ doesn't add much to your burning desire to ‘step into the kitchen' either." Leif grinned at the murderous look on Loki’s face. “Last time’ was when Loki had attempted to prove his ability to cook _the mortal way_ three months ago after Tony Stark snidely remarked that the god was probably impotent at everything without magic. The god had allowed his pride to get the better of him that time and unfortunately, it turned out (much to Tony’s amusement) that the billionaire was right.

"Leif."

Leif chuckled as he exited the house, leaving Loki grumpy and bristling with indignation after being reminded of the humiliating incident.

"Oh, by the way, _Daddy dearest_ ," Leif popped his head in through the doorway once more with an aggravatingly innocent expression. "If you are so concerned about our kitchen, perhaps you could consider working your little hocus pocus and nursing it back to health instead of stalking me again today?"

Loki gave a vicious snarl of anger and raised his hand threateningly.

"Love you too!" The young man laughed before hurriedly slamming the door to prevent the silencing hex the god fired from reaching him.

XXX

Leif grinned as he approached a quaint little cafe on one of the less busy streets of New York. It was a beautiful day; the sun was pleasant, the clouds fluffy and a cooling breeze tugged slightly at the young man’s jacket as he was walking. Furthermore, the hilarious image of his father’s hysterical, insulted expression lifted his moods up considerably. The young man was practically skipping along before he reached the cafe’s door and pushed it open.

A light jaunty music was playing in the shop ( _What was it again? French? Italian?_ ), and the atmosphere of the place was warm and homey. Leif scanned the cafe for a moment before spotting a girl with long wavy chocolate-brown hair at the corner table near the window. Her spectacles were drooping near the tip of her nose as she gazed out of the window and stirred her coffee dreamily. Leif grinned and walked over to her table, sliding onto the seat opposite of the girl gracefully.

“Hey Di.”

The girl gave a little start and hurriedly pushed her spectacles back up the bridge of her nose before realising that it was Leif. Her face broke out into a mischievous grin as she eyed the smirking young man in front of her.

“Hi Leify. You’re late.”

Leif gave a light chuckle. It seemed as though their little nicknames for each other when they first met had been stuck with them all these years. Leif first became acquainted with Diana a few years ago during a picnic at the Central Park with the Avengers. After playing a prank on some innocent passer-bys and inconveniencing Diana, who was earning a living by selling sketches at the park, Leif had decided to help her out by getting his portrait drawn. In the end, Leif couldn’t resist being himself and hitting on the girl, landing himself with a date the very next day.

However, this happened years ago, and after Leif decided to become more serious in his relationship with Darcy (the credits go to Steve Rogers who had droned on and on to Leif about the importance of a man’s fidelity), his and Diana’s relationship became that of ordinary friends, and then close friends as the years went by. However, the young man could never resist a making a witty quip or flirting occasionally with the spunky girl, who often countered his comments with sarcastic lines and the two of them had established a little sort of ‘flirtationship’ along with their friendship. Their relationship had never crossed that boundary though, and Leif had been careful to stop himself from crossing it. He had not told Diana about Darcy though, and vice-versa. The rascal gave himself the excuse that it was just due to the fact that he wanted to keep his love life, work life and social life separate. 

So far, the only ones who knew about the existence of Diana were Loki, who Leif had accidentally let slip one day when he was preparing to meet the girl, as well as Clint and Steve, who saw the sketch Diana drew for Leif the first time they met. Clint had bugged his young apprentice (during his training days) repeatedly for information regarding the mysterious girl and gave his solemn promise that he would keep it a secret.

_(“I won’t tell anyone else, kid.” Clint said with a straight face as he raised three fingers in a solemn oath. “Man’s honour.”)_

The big mouth then proceeded to rattle everything off to Steve two hours later, laughing about how he won the bet against the super soldier. Leif had a hard time convincing the Captain that he and Diana were merely friends and that yes, in the 21st century people of the opposite sex can, in fact, become close friends without getting into each others’ pants or skirts. He then managed to persuade or rather, threaten in Clint’s case, both of them not to tell anyone, especially Darcy, about this. Steve Rogers had been reluctant, but obliged eventually given his friendship with Leif. He did however warn the young man about remaining faithful to his significant other and Leif had assured him that he would.

Leif ordered an iced mocha from the waitress before turning back to his friend.

“So, how’s your life been lately?” The young man asked casually. Due to his busy work schedule and the constant chore of keeping his father, and himself, out of any mischief that may catch Fury’s eye, Leif hadn’t met Diana for more than a month now.

“Oh, life’s been... as usual.” Diana smiled as she took a tiny sip of her coffee. Leif grinned at the vague answer.

“How boring your life must be,” He replied with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “And to think that I came here prepared to share my tales of how I dodged flamethrowers, lasers, hiked through the Himalayas and raided some of the most dangerous secret criminal bases known to humanity in the past month. Surely something exciting must have happened to you as well?” Leif ended with a smug smirk. Diana stared at the conceited young man for a moment before returning him with a smirk of her own.

“Well, let’s see. I have toured across the whole of France, paddled down the River Nile in an iron canoe, answered the riddle of the Sphinx and shook hands with the Queen of England.” The girl replied and Leif laughed.

“All in a month?”

“Why of course.”

“You lead an interesting life Di.”

“Same to you, Leify.”

Both of them grinned at each other as the waitress brought Leif’s drink over to the table. The young man took a long sip of the mocha before continuing their conversation.

“So, are you working on any paintings recently?”

Diana was an artist, and a particularly talented one at that. She lived and breathed art, appreciated history and basically had an intense passion in both areas. Despite not having much interest in the arts, Leif had to admit that some of Diana’s paintings and portraits were breathtaking. The girl was not a famous artist yet, but she was trying and Leif liked the amount of zeal and effort she placed in all her work.

“Nope. I can’t seem to get any ideas lately.” Diana admitted, stirring her coffee absent-mindedly again as she talked. “I have tried taking more strolls along the parks and beaches and reading up on some history to see if any inspiration would hit but...” She trailed off, her eyes glazed over again as they always did when she thought about art. Leif paused for a moment before giving a tiny smirk.

“I have a suggestion for you,” The young man grinned when Diana jolted up at the mention of an idea. “How about painting a full-sized portrait of me? I bet your paintbrush wouldn’t be able to handle the challenge.” Diana gave a laugh at Leif’s cheeky suggestion.

“Oh yes, I believe painting your big nose onto the canvas would be especially challenging. It will probably just smudge up the whole painting.” Diana smirked and Leif frowned. How did they get back to the topic of his ‘big nose’ again? And his nose wasn’t oversized in anyway the last time he checked, thank you very much.

“Hey, my nose is perfectly proportionate.” Leif protested indignantly as Diana simply leant back with a teasing grin. “I know. I have checked.”

“Well, they say people tend to see themselves as 40 percent better looking in the mirrors then they actually are in real life.” Diana chuckled as Leif gazed at her exasperatedly. “In your case I guess your brain has zoomed down on your nose size. It’s okay. I allow you to keep your delusions.”

Leif was about to retort back with something witty when his phone rang all of a sudden. Apologising to Diana for the interruption, he glanced at his phone and frowned when he saw the caller ID ‘Boss from Hell’ before answering it.

“Hey Fury dear, you called?” The young man grinned when he heard an irritated hiss on the other side of the phone before Nick Fury spoke.

“Agent Lokison, we need you back at headquarters now.”

Leif’s eyebrows rose quizzically and Diana, who had returned to stirring her coffee, gave him a questioning glance.

“Erm, correct me if I am wrong, Director, but wasn’t I supposed to be on vacation till the end of this month? On your orders?” Diana gave a tiny giggle at the last part and even Leif couldn’t keep a straight face despite the tinge of bitterness he felt towards his boss.

“Get your god damned ass down here immediately Lokison!” Fury snapped before hanging up and Leif winced a little at the ringing in his ears after the outburst. He pocketed the phone and gave Diana an apologetic look.

“Sorry Di, I have to getting going. Some work issues just popped up and my... erm... boss wanted me back immediately.” Leif said and Diana gave an understanding nod.

“Nasty boss huh?” The girl asked with a sympathetic smile and Leif grinned.

“You have no idea.” The young man replied and Diana gave a chuckle. “I am sorry that our meeting ended so abruptly, Di. I will treat this time.” Despite Diana’s protests, Leif insisted on picking up the bill and Diana finally gave up.

“Well, if you’re going to pay, can I get a brownie before you leave?”

Leif grinned at Diana’s request and ordered a brownie stack with an extra serving of vanilla ice-cream for the girl before paying at the counter. After making a promise to meet Diana again soon, Leif walked out of the cafe towards his car, hoping that Fury had a damn good excuse for ordering him back on such short notice that day.


	4. Assembly Yet Again

Leif reached S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in fifteen minutes flat. He strode briskly into the building and flashed his identity card to the security guard on duty for less than a second before sweeping past him. It didn't matter that it was not humanely possible for the man to check his card in such a short time; the security personnel all knew who he was. Leif prided himself on making lasting impressions.

"I thought you would be on vacation for this month, Agent?" The thin, lanky security guard that Leif only knew as 'Joel' asked teasingly as the young man swept past. Leif shot a backward glance at him and flashed a mischievous grin.

"Fury misses me too much, Joel. Can't help it." The young man replied smugly and strode off, smirking as he listened to Joel's loud chuckles behind him.

As Leif waited impatiently for the elevator to reach its destination (Fury's office is on the 60th floor. Wow.), a list of possible reasons for Fury's urgent demand for his return ran through his mind. After the Director's angry orders for his suspension the day before, Leif had been so sure that there was nothing he could do except to enjoy himself on this unwanted short break that he was forced to take. Fury seldom joked (God forbid), and Leif had learnt that you are not allowed to joke around the burly man either. Previous experiences had not fared that well.

This meant that something really serious or blown out of proportion must have happened, all in the span of one day, for the Director to request for his immediate return to the job just less than 24 hours after he was suspended. Leif could not think of any reason that would warrant such a drastic measure. What villain, or world catastrophe, could there possibly be that the Avengers, and other superheroes S.H.I.E.L.D. was affiliated with, couldn't handle without him? Doctor Doom? Amora? Venom? Leif shook his head at these thoughts. Not possible. Despite his arrogance and confidence in his abilities, Leif knew that he was not the only, or the best, candidate for these matters.

The elevator doors opened with a soft chime and Leif headed briskly to Fury's office, his mind still filled with these puzzlements. The young man hadn't needed to worry so much, however, as the answer was presented immediately in the form of a demigod the moment he stepped into the room.

"Uncle?" Leif gaped in surprise at the muscular, blonde haired man who was sitting on the black armchair opposite Fury across the Director's desk. Thor's face lit up at the sight of his nephew and the god rose promptly, beaming at Leif.

"Leif! It is wonderful to see you again!" The god enthused as he pulled the young man into a breath-taking hug. Leif grinned in spite of his usual disdain of mushy greetings; some rules just simply do not apply to Thor. He then pulled away from his uncle and gave the god a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"I did not know that you would be visiting." Leif smiled warmly at Thor, although his brows did raise slightly in a questioning manner. "You had always visited me and Father first on your visits to Earth in the past." Thor's large grin faded visibly after listening to Leif's words and a look of worry appeared on his face. Leif watched the change in expressions on his Uncle's face with a frown. Something was up; the young man could see it plain and clear on Thor's face, not that Thor had ever been difficult to read. However, this time that 'something' must be fairly serious.

Thor turned back to gaze at Fury momentarily before giving an uneasy cough and looking back at his nephew.

"There has been... a situation back in Asgard." Thor started uncertainly and Leif immediately stiffened at the news. Although the young man had not stayed in Asgard as long as he had on Earth, he had grown a rather strong attachment to the golden realm. The fact that the realm where his father, uncle, along with some of his friends called home was possibly threatened in some way made the young man anxious, and edgy in some way.

"What happened?" Leif questioned, the usual mirth in his voice no longer present. Thor bit his lip nervously under the gaze of his nephew before continuing.

"Some grave issues have arisen." The god said uncomfortably, and Leif clicked his tongue in annoyance that his uncle was simply repeating his previous sentence. "It is not time... to delve into details yet, Leif. Not here." Thor added hurriedly after seeing the impatient look on the young man's face. "Director Fury had sent out a message for our other team mates to gather, and I shall explain later."

"That's right." Fury said sternly as he stood up and strode out from behind his desk. "Thor will brief everyone on the details after the Avengers have assembled. The reason why I've called you back on such short notice," the Director continued, "was because we need you to ensure Loki's presence during the conference as well."

"Father?" Leif looked stunned for a moment before turning from Fury back to Thor. "What has Father got to do with all this?" The young man demanded and Thor twitched a tad too uneasily; it was enough to raise his suspicions.

"You suspect him of being responsible for whatever that has happened on Asgard?" Leif asked incredulously and Thor was quick to fluster and deny the claim.

"Not at all, Nephew!" The god blurted out anxiously. "We wish for Loki to be present in order to consult him on the magical aspects regarding this matter. There has not quite been a sorcerer as adept in the subject of magic where Asgard is concerned." Thor explained but Leif continued frowning sceptically. He was not quite convinced yet.

"Exactly." Fury chimed in as he turned a stern gaze on the young agent. "Besides, one of the conditions underlying Loki's continued stay on Earth was that he would provide assistance whenever necessary to atone for his earlier acts against the planet. This is a legit request."

Thor nodded and gave Leif a sad smile.

"Leif," Thor rested his hand on the man's shoulder. "Please do not doubt my trust in Loki. He will always be my brother, and a prince of Asgard. Therefore I believe it is vital for him to know of what has happened in our home realm as well." Leif observed the sincere look in Thor's eyes for a moment before giving a curt nod.

"So when will the conference start?" The young man turned to Director Fury.

"As soon as everyone assembles." Fury replied dryly and Leif could have rolled his eyes at the silent 'duh' at the back of the statement. Great, so that means that the conference will start only when he could convince Loki to come along with him. Waaaay to lay on the pressure, big guy!

"I will be back in a quickie." Leif said flippantly as he turned to leave. "Uncle dear, please do not let them start the party without me." The young man added with a casual flick of his hand before he exited the room. A confused Thor was left in the room with Fury, who was decidedly trying extremely hard not to roll his eyes.

"What party?" The bewildered god finally asked as he turned to gaze at Fury and the Director couldn't help it; eye rolling had become a normal reflex in situations like these.

"How would I know, Thor? He's your nephew!" The man snorted before walking back to slump into his chair and leaving Thor as puzzled as ever.

XXX

Loki was not in a good mood when Leif returned. Apparently his father was still sour about the jab he had made earlier about the god's hilariously terrible cooking skills and Leif could sense it. After all, "Back? Where is the sushi?" was not Loki's usual way of starting a conversation with his son. That and the unpleasant scowl on the god's face as he asked the question sent the 'Maniac God Hissy-fit' alarm screaming in Leif's head again.

"You are still snappy, aren't you?" Leif chuckled as he walked around the couch to sit down next to Loki. The god gave him a murderous glare.

"Your choice of adjectives repulses me." Loki replied coldly and Leif grinned.

"Well, to be fair, yours confuse me at times, Father." The young man smirked, but Loki did not seem as amused by the banter.

"If you are trying to provoke me into using a silencing hex on you again, Leif, you are well on your way to succeeding." The god said venomously and Leif raised his hands in a sign of mock surrender.

"Okay. I get it. You are pissed." Leif paused after the look Loki shot him. "Alright, displeased." The young man resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he corrected himself. "Look, I am sorry, okay? I had been kidding. I took it too far." Leif apologised and inwardly smirked when he saw the smug, pompous look on Loki's face. Seriously, what was it with Norse gods and childish behaviour?

The conceited look on Loki's face then vanished after a second as the god turned to Leif with a doubtful glare.

"You need something from me again." The god spoke sharply and his eyes bore through Leif's. The young man found himself wondering once more if his father had mind-reading abilities. He wouldn't put it past him that he did.

"Why would you think of that?" Leif asked innocently. Loki was not fooled.

"You would never apologise to me unless you want something, Leif. I know you." Loki growled and Leif could not hide his grin of amusement.

"You mean you know yourself." Leif chuckled and despite his own misgivings, the edges of Loki's lips twitched up momentarily. After all, the young man did take after the god in many ways.

"I knew it was too good to be true." Loki drawled as he leant back comfortably into the couch. "Out with it then, what request would be so important that you would not hesitate sacrificing your dignity for it." Leif gave a snort at his father's words. Figures that only Loki would regard apologising as a sacrifice of dignity.

"Well," Leif licked his bottom lip for a moment as he thought on the best possible choice of words to use. "I may need your help in some urgent matters related to magic."

Loki gave a sceptical laugh.

"You mean S.H.I.E.L.D. needs my help in some urgent matters related to magic." The god pointed out flatly and Leif gave a sheepish grin. "After all, it appears to be the only logical reason for you to come back 4 hours earlier than you normally would have for a date." Loki smirked and Leif rolled his eyes at the hidden jab. "So what is it this time? Has Doom invented another monstrosity again?"

"Not exactly." Leif paused for a second before continuing. "But close." He added with a grin. "Just come along with me and we will be briefed on the details during the conference. It is supposed to be confidential."

Leif knew better than to lie to his father about anything, but he also knew that Loki was still a tad sour about all matters regarding Thor. Therefore the young man had intentionally left out all mentions of his uncle, or Asgard, for that matter. Unfortunately, this meant that there were no details to give Loki at all, with the lack of knowledge Leif himself had on the issue, and the God of Mischief was equally adept at catching intentional hiding of truths as he was with lies.

Said God of Mischief's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"You are hiding something." Loki said pointedly and Leif sighed. His eyes flicked to the wall clock momentarily and he felt a tinge of frustration. It had been 35 minutes since he had left to get Loki, and he was sure that all the Avengers would already be waiting for them back at headquarters. Time was running out, Loki was not cooperating and Leif was sure that Fury would not be pleased if they only managed to start the meeting at midnight. Loki observed him for a moment before giving a knowing snort.

"It has something to do with Thor, hasn't it?" The god asked casually and Leif gave a tiny startle.

"I did not say that!" Leif protested but Loki simply smirked back.

"You did not say that, but you knew that." Loki pointed out smugly. "You are my son, Leif. You can't hide anything from me." The god grinned at the indignant huff Leif gave. "And yes, you are quite right if you expected me to refuse the request."

Leif stared at Loki incredulously. Oh come on! He didn't have the time to coax his father!

"But-" Leif started anxiously before being cut off by Loki with a raise of his finger.

"No buts Leif." Loki said firmly. "You know how much I detest that blundering oaf. Besides, I doubt there is any problem that the Golden Prince could not handle by his own." The god added bitterly and Leif could have face-palmed. That again...

"Well, if you won't help out for him, then do it for me, at least!" Leif argued. "I am running out of time. Fury will be-"

"Ah yes, and then there is the added benefit of seeing you get into trouble with our amiable Director." Loki's smirk grew wider as Leif glowered at him. "I refuse to become one of your apple polishing tools."

Leif scowled at Loki for a moment before heaving a sigh of exasperation.

"If you help out this time I will get you a jar of those berry-toffee bars that you like so much." Leif tried with a pleading look and Loki scoffed at him.

"Your attempts at bribery are pathetic."

"Two?"

"No."

Leif ruffled his hair in distress. His father was being difficult on purpose to irk him; Leif knew that.

"Father," Leif started, more seriously this time. "Something serious has happened in Asgard. I don't know what, but Uncle was clearly very worried when I saw him." The young man added but Loki continued to frown stubbornly. "I am sure he would not have come all the way back to Earth to trouble you if it was a minor matter that he could handle on his own. The fact that he came shows that he trusts you, be it in his own matters, or Asgard's." Leif reasoned and he caught his father's gaze softened temporarily for about half a second. His obstinate father was quick to hide any further emotion.

There was a moment's silence as Loki quietly contemplated what Leif said before giving a resigned sigh.

"I won't settle for less than three jars."

Leif grinned at the forced uncaring look on his father's face.

"Deal!" The young man declared as he stood up from the couch. "Not my fault if you get diabetes though." He added cheekily and Loki scowled.

"One more word, Leif, one more word..."

"Yes, I know. And you will kill me. Again."

"No, but I will retract my offer to help."

"Hey! That's not fair!"

"Life hardly is, Son, it hardly is."

XXX

The Avengers were all gathered around the big round table in the conference room.

Tony, in particular, was extremely unhappy at being dragged out of his lab during an intriguing science session with Bruce. He had protested, refused and complained about stupid security breaches, but somehow Phil Coulson had managed to present a formidable persuasive force yet again, along with Pepper and Bruce's help of course. The traitors. Therefore the billionaire was now sulking at the table as Thor tried to explain to the rest what had happened on Asgard.

"-we have no clue as to why the Orb and Tablet were taken, however we can be certain that the culprit will not stop at this point." Thor said solemnly and a grim silence surrounded the room. Finally, Tony gave an impatient little cough to break the tension.

"Tell us about what the Orb of Agamatta and Tablet of What's-it does again?"

"Orb of Agamotto and Tablet of Life and Time." Thor corrected his friend patiently. "The Orb is a scyring device, and it is speculated that it may be dimensionally linked to the Eye of Agamotto."

"The Eye of Agamotto." Fury frowned at the thought of another potentially powerful relic and Thor nodded before continuing.

"Tablet contains a formula for a serum that could elevate a being to its race's full potential."

Tony gave a tiny jolt at the god's words.

"Elevating a being to its full potential? Given that you've said 'race', I would assume that it would probably be on the biological levels of the user." The genius's brows furrowed at the thought. "To do that the serum must have powers to rejuvenate and boost the user's cells, thus prolonging his or her longevity and resulting in a-"

"Omnipotent being." Bruce finished the sentence for him and the two men exchanged worried looks. It seems as though the situation is a lot graver than it sounds.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Steve Rogers piped up. "Omnipotent? As in all-able and all-powerful?"

"Right Rogers, think of it this way: 'God'-god, not 'Alien'-god." Tony replied and Steve's face darkened considerably. A potentially All-powerful being who may not have the best intentions? The Captain shuddered a little at the very thought.

"So do you have any suspects?" Natasha asked as she gazed at Thor seriously. "Anyone whom you could narrow down as the culprit? Anywhere that you think he may be hiding?" Thor shook his head at her questions.

"I am afraid I am unable to answer your questions, Natasha. There are many possible realms which the thief may be hiding, and considering how he is able to veil himself from Heimdall's view, it will be no easy task finding him. However, my father and I have speculated a few places where he may have chosen to hide before proceeding to the next step of his plans and Midgard is one of them." Thor replied and Bruce nodded knowingly.

"Because of the Eye of Agamotto?" The scientist asked.

"Indeed." Thor agreed. "Considering how the Orb is used mostly for scyring purposes, it was unlikely that a person with dubious intentions would have taken it. The only possible reason for its theft would be that the scoundrel is after another source of power that the Orb could provide a pathway to."

"And the Eye of Agamotto had been spotted on Earth in the past." Fury added grimly.

"Yes, Director." Thor replied. "This is one of the reasons why I am here: To warn all of you of the potential threat. The other, is to seek Loki's assistance in the matter."

"Loki?" Almost everyone in the room perked up at the mention of the god.

"Lokison is bringing Loki here the very moment we speak." Director Fury confirmed wearily after seeing all the questioning looks directed to him.

"Why all the superspy language, Fury? Just call the kid 'kid'. Don't complicate matters." Tony drawled and Fury shot him a murderous look.

"So Leif and Loki will be reaching here soon?" Steve asked curiously and Fury gave a curt nod.

"Lokison," Fury glared pointedly at Tony, "had reported that they would be reaching in a few minutes."

"Wait! Why is Loki needed here?!" Clint demanded as he turned to Thor.

"Loki has been considered to be one of Asgard's most powerful sorcerers. There is likely no one other than him who would be able to aid us more in the tracking down of the thief." Thor said solemnly and there was a moment of silence as everyone considered his words. Tony, for one, did not seem too convinced.

"I'd hate to burst your bubble, pal," The billionaire said as he stared at the god, "but there may be a few little snags here. Firstly, I don't think Loki would be eager to help you, or us." Tony straightened up from his initial carefree posture and placed his elbows on the table. "Secondly," he added after seeing that Thor was about to protest, "the culprit you mentioned was magically adept enough to veil himself from some guy who supposedly could see everything. Plus, he knew his way around Asgard." Tony's voice then grew serious. "From what I have been hearing from you, it seems like it's highly probable Loki has a part to play in all this, and you know it yourself, big guy."

There was dead silence in the room after Tony's speech, and Thor seemed as though he was trying his best not to unleash his temper on the man. Bruce fidgeted about uneasily next to Tony, who simply gazed back at the Thunder god defiantly. After all the genius knew that what he had said was a reasonable deduction; the others could hardly fault him for that. Furthermore, there was a danger of being in denial, especially in times like this. Tony was never one to sugar coat things. Finally, Thor swallowed loudly and spoke.

"I trust my brother," Thor said as he gazed around the room. "Loki has promised to turn over a new leaf and even if he is a talented liar, I trust that this is a promise he would not break. You all may have your doubts, but I would urge you not to judge too quickly till there is sufficient evidence to prove his guilt."

Steve nodded slowly in agreement to Thor's words while the rest did not see any reason to argue. Tony gave a tiny cough.

"Point taken, Shakespeare. But if Loki goes psycho again, you can be sure that I'll blast his ass off from Earth this time."

Thor smiled at his friend's words.

"I can assure you that you would not need to perform such measures, Anthony." The god grinned. Fury raised his hand to his communicator and listened intently for a moment before turning his attention back to the Avengers.

"Alright kids, Agent Coulson just reported that Loki has arrived. Coulson and Lokison are bringing him up now."

"My friends!" Everyone turned to Thor, who gave them a knowing look. "Loki is highly sensitive these days, especially with regards to matters like these, thus we would have to approach him with tact. Please allow me to raise the issue with him later before you ask any questions."

Tony gave a cynical little snort before leaning over to whisper to Bruce.

"Pointbreak and tact? I have a feeling this meeting's gonna be pretty interesting." The billionaire grinned and Bruce could only manage a nervous little laugh as they watched the doors slide open with Leif and Loki striding into the room seconds after.


	5. Doubts and Trust

The first thing that Leif noticed when he entered the conference room was that it was unnaturally quiet.

Tony Stark wasn't quipping about things that made Fury furious and Steve Rogers wasn't glaring him down for that. Clint Barton fidgeted a little uncomfortably in his seat when Loki walked in but determinedly maintained a stony look. Natasha Romanoff simply sat up straight and alert, keeping her usual poker face on and Bruce Banner appeared as weary as ever.

No, the silence certainly wasn't imagined.

Leif felt a growing jittery sensation in his stomach. There had not been many emergencies in the past which had warranted the full assembly of the Avengers; many were simply manageable by one or two of them alone. Furthermore, even for the few rare occasions, Tony and Clint had never failed to keep the atmosphere light until the inevitable battle itself. This time however, it was different, and the young man could tell that something must have gone seriously wrong.

"Hey guys!" Leif grinned, attempting to break the uncomfortable silence. His attempts managed to gain a response, somewhat. Tony gave a reply that sounded like a scoff and snort rolled into one. Bruce flashed him a tiny smile while Steve acknowledged his greeting with a nod. However, even so, the young man noted that the gazes of all his comrades in the room never left his father for a single second. Loki noticed the sudden rise in attention that he was receiving as well, but the god merely gave an inaudible snort before settling down comfortably on the nearest chair, smirking at the others as he did so.

"Lokison," Fury nodded at Leif before gesturing to the chair next to Loki. "Take a seat. We'll start the meeting promptly."

"Well, I'm glad you guys finally made it." Tony drawled as Leif took his place at the table. "You sure took your own sweet time. I thought we were gonna have to wait till Christmas befo-" Before he could finish his sentence, the billionaire jolted abruptly from his relaxed pose. He then turned to glare accusingly at Bruce, who was decidedly ignoring him and gazing intently at the front, although the sides of his lips twitched upwards for a moment. Leif snickered silently as he watched Tony rub his side painfully and sulkily shift a few inches away from his friend.

Thor cleared his throat loudly. "Brother, Nephew! I am pleased you are here!"

Leif gave him a smile while Loki ignored him completely. However, the Thunder god seemed already immune to his brother's apparent coldness to him and beamed at them before continuing.

"I have gathered all of you here today to address a grave situation that has occurred back in Asgard. A thief has broken into the Weapons' Vault the previous evening, murdering four of our men as he did so," Thor started gravely and Leif stiffened at his uncle's words.

Broken into the Weapons' Vault? The young man recalled the time when he himself had intruded the Vault, and remembered the numerous powerful relics that were kept inside it. This cannot be good...

The Thunder god continued, "The scoundrel managed to escape via teleportation when my father and I reached, and he took the Orb of Agamotto as well as the Tablet of Life and Time with him."

"Wait... The Orb of what?" Leif's brows furrowed as he stared at Thor and Tony gave a little chuckle at the young man's confusion. However, beside him, a worried frown appeared on Loki's face at the revelation.

"The Orb of Agamotto," Thor repeated patiently to his nephew. "And the Tablet of Life and Time."

"Which is also known as the Lifetime Tablet," Loki stated matter-of-factly, speaking up for the first time he entered the room. All attention in the room turned towards the god.

Leif stared at his father. "So, what are they for?"

"The Lifetime Tablet contains a formula for a serum, the Lifetime Formula, which is said to biologically enhance its user and grant him near omnipotency." Loki explained grimly. "The Orb of Agamotto is used mostly for scrying purposes. It can be used by magic users for clairvoyance and is linked dimensionally to the Eye of Agamotto, another similarly powerful relic." Leif nodded slowly at his father's words and remained quiet, trying to digest the massive amount of information he was presented with.

Tony, however, couldn't seem to resist talking for more than a minute.

"You seem to know a lot, Frosty." He pointed out to Loki, whose grim expression quickly switched to a smirk.

"Most of my childhood revolved around the studies of magic and the relics that allowed users to wield magic, Stark, and these are merely two of the thousands I have studied." Loki replied smugly. "On the other hand, you, for a mere mortal, seem to have surprising knowledge about the relics, as is everyone else in this room." The god smirked as his eyes swept across the other silent Avengers. "None of you seem awed in the slightest by the potential consequences of this matter."

Steve gave a tiny, awkward cough which drew Leif's attention. The now-cynical young man then turned his gaze on his team mates before realising that they did indeed seem more well-informed about the matter than he was.

"We were briefed partly on the matter before you two arrived." Natasha stated pointedly, maintaining her calm demeanour throughout.

"So, 'we will start the meeting only when everyone assembles', huh?" Leif turned accusingly to Director Fury who simply returned his glare with a stony look. Tony smirked at the young man's indignation.

"You can't possibly expect us to wait eons for you while you stroll through the park, kid." The billionaire chuckled as he gazed at the irritated look on Leif's face. He was ruffling the young man's feathers; he knew it, and loved it. "Some of us have things to do, places to get to. Not all of us are on a vacation, you know?" Tony then sat back with such an annoying grin on his face that Leif contemplated firing an energy blast and knocking the genius' teeth out.

That will serve him right!

Thor watched the increasing tension between his smirking team mate and glowering nephew, and hurriedly decided to step in before things spiralled out of control.

"My friends, let us not squabble over petty matters in times like this!" The Thunder god said anxiously and fired a warning look in Tony's direction before continuing. "It is vital that we stay united and track down the thief before he manages to cause any trouble!"

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Clint piped up sceptically. "You've said yourself that you have no friggin' idea who or where that little bitch is!"

"Well, this is precisely why I have requested for my brother's assistance!" Thor replied as he turned to Loki, who met his brother's hopeful gaze with a raised eyebrow.

"You have requested it, but I did not say that I would grant it." The dark haired god stated flatly. Thor's face instantly fell.

"Father!" Leif hissed urgently to Loki and the god turned his glare to him. "This is not a joking matter. We had an agreement, remember?"

Loki gave a scoff at the reminder, because apparently berry toffee bars were so important. The god then started to muse about how S.H.I.E.L.D could have possibly turned his son from a mischief maker to a worrisome spoilsport. He gave a sigh, and turned back to face Thor.

"Describe the thief to me." Loki said in a bored tone and Thor's face immediately lit up.

The god quickly wrecked his brains for any telling details but his cheery expression soon faltered when he found none.

Thor bit his lip awkwardly. "Um... He was wearing a cloak, and... he had very white teeth?"

"Cloak and white teeth?" Loki repeated incredulously while Tony stifled a snigger. "Well that was enlightening."

Leif's face turned a funny shade of red. He caught the amused look Bruce shot him and finally couldn't control himself any longer. A laugh escaped his lips and he quickly regretted it when he saw the reproachful glare Fury gave him.

Thor, in his defence, appeared embarrassed.

"It is not my fault, Brother!" Thor blurted and gave Loki a sheepish look. "The thief disappeared before I could get a closer look at him."

Loki sighed. "I understand, Thor, I really do."

Thor cheered up considerably at his brother's words.

"Aye, and this is also where your knowledge of magic comes in handy, Brother! The culprit was able to shield himself from Heimdall's view, and he was obviously highly skilled in the art of sorcery to get past the guards and break through the All Father's enchantments on the relics. You know many skilled magic users in the nine realms, are there any, besides yourself, who possesses such great skill and knowledge of Asgard to infiltrate the castle?" Thor asked hopefully. However, Loki's eyes narrowed after listening to Thor's speech.

"Besides myself?" He asked cynically and Thor's face immediately fell at the unintended implication he had made. Leif gazed cautiously from his father to his uncle, and an eerie tingle went down his spine. Uh oh...

At his side of the table, Tony face palmed. He then proceeded to peek out between his fingers, observing the tension between the two Norse gods for a moment before leaning over to Bruce.

"What'd I tell ya?" The genius murmured to his friend and Bruce gave a low sigh.

"Peachy. I'd be safer on roller coaster than here." The scientist muttered dryly and the side of Tony's lips quirked up at the man's reply. Roller coaster? Now that's an interesting plan!

"So 'no suspects' actually means one suspect, doesn't it, Thor?" Loki asked darkly while Thor stared at his brother in shock. "I am sure Heimdall and many others must have come to that same conclusion back there in Asgard."

Thor flustered in panic. "I did not-" the Thunder god started hastily but was soon cut off by his brother's nasty laugh.

"So it's true. You did not, but the others did!" Loki sneered while Thor looked at a loss of what to say. "So is that why you are here, brother? To confront me for the theft? Am I to be dragged back to Asgard for the All Father's questioning?"

"No, Loki!" Thor defended anxiously. "Not for questioning! But I had hoped that you would return to Asgard to aid us in these difficult times!"

Loki scoffed at his reply. "Return? To be bound in chains again? How would that help?"

"Father..." Leif started meekly, wondering how to calm Loki down now that the god is all riled up. Thor appeared to be fretting the same, but he failed terribly at the task.

"I did not say that, Brother! Do not twist my words so!"

"So now I am the one being overly paranoid?"

"No! I mean, yes-... no, Loki! I do not wish to offend you in any way."

Steve took one glance at Thor's flustered expression, felt sorry for the fella and decided that he should just step in and help out.

"Loki, Thor's not implying anything. He just wants to ask for your help." The Captain said firmly and Loki turned his murderous glare from Thor to him. Steve met the god's gaze with a stern look of his own. He wasn't going to get cowered just like that.

"Exactly, Rudolph." Tony piped up scornfully. "Stop being an over sensitive drama queen," He added and Loki glowered dangerously at the billionaire for his quip. "You're not making matters any less suspicious than it already is for yourself."

Loki glared at Tony for a moment before turning his accusing look back to Thor.

"Hear that, Thor? Your dear friend just admitted that I had been a suspect all along." The god spat and Thor gaped at him uselessly for a moment. Clint rolled his eyes at his nemesis's words.

"You can hardly blame us," the archer retorted flatly. "Your record is not exactly spotless." He continued and Natasha gave a firm nod at her partner's words. Loki bristled indignantly.

"So because of that, I am to be blamed for every misdeed that occurred?" The god asked incredulously. "Pray tell, why would I want to steal the Tablet and the Orb? I am already immortal, and I do not need the Orb for clairvoyance. Would I possibly be deluded enough to travel all the way back to Asgard, steal two relics I have no use for, and return back to Earth to be accused by you?!" Loki finished with a snarl.

Tony shrugged. "Well, who knows what goes on in that bag of cats you have for a brain?"

Loki seemed about to bite the man's head off for the remark when Leif spoke up.

"I was under the impression that I brought my father to be consulted, not interrogated." The young man pointed out coldly as he glared around the room before fixing his gaze on Thor. The Thunder god flinched a little under his nephew's angry gaze.

"I have come solely for the purpose of requesting for Loki's help, Leif! I trusted my brother and-" Thor started anxiously but was cut off mid-sentence by Loki, who gave a scornful laugh. Soon, a furious argument started at the table.

"Ha! Do not make me laugh Thor! You trusted me, the talented liar?"

"Brother! I did not-"

"Well I'm glad you know that you are a talented liar, Frosty."

"My father had nothing to do with this. I can vouch for-"

"Vouch for what? You stuck to him 24 hours a day?"

"Tony..."

"You know what, Stark? Stop being such a presumptuous asshole!"

"Oh, so now I'm presumptuous for stating facts?"

"Agent, you are supposed to remain neutral!"

"Neutral? I didn't know that neutral means sitting by idly while you guys accuse my father for nothing, Director!"

"Well neutral doesn't mean following Loki around like a little lamb and helping him burn down the world either!"

"Stark! Do not accuse my brother and nephew so freely!"

"Just whose side are you on, Pointbreak?!"

"Tony, stop it!"

"Kids! Kids! Will you ALL CALM DOWN?!"

"I was not the one who started this-!"

Finally, Leif stood up in a rage, knocking his chair over as he did so. The room feel silent and everyone eyed the angry young man warily, knowing that he could be very erratic when provoked. Leif glared around the table.

"This is enough! I did not bring my father here to be accused!" He growled and shot a murderous look at Tony, who glared back. "Come on, Father, we are leaving." Leif finished hotly.

"Agent-" Fury chided in disapproval but his subordinate ignored him and exited the room promptly without a backward glance. Loki stood up slowly with a smirk on his face. He gazed at Thor's doleful expression for a moment before giving one last gloating grin and following his son pompously out of the room.

Thor was left staring sadly at the large metal door as it slammed back into place. Tony gaped.

"Did you see that smug look on the bastard's face?" The billionaire gasped in disbelief. Beside him, Bruce rubbed his temples resignedly.

Natasha and Clint exchanged worried looks at the current situation while Thor slumped even further down into his chair. Steve took a look at Thor's forlorn expression and gave Tony a stern glare.

"Perhaps things wouldn't have gotten so sour if you didn't add fuel to the fire, Tony." Steve pointed out reproachfully. Tony, however, gave a scoff at his words.

"I stated facts, Gramps, nothing more." The billionaire retorted. "Besides," he turned to Thor, "Remind me again how that was being tactful?" The Thunder god glared at him furiously.

Steve shook his head wearily at the flippant man. If Loki didn't manage to turn Leif to the dark side, the Captain was sure that Tony Stark would... sooner or later.

XXX

Leif stormed into their apartment while Loki followed closely seconds after with an amused grin.

"I can't believe that they would all suspect you of that crime!" The young man raged as he waved his arms about violently to emphasise his point. "It's just plain ridiculous."

"Calm down Leif." Loki drawled as he lowered himself lazily onto the couch. "Why get so agitated because of what S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers think? I have always warned you about their 'friendship'."

Leif ignored his father's quip about his team mates' dubious 'friendship' and continued to rant on.

"And Uncle! He promised me that he trusted you, yet all along he was reeling me in to lead you in for interrogation!" The young man fumed while Loki gave a tiny snicker at his son's indignation. Yes, getting tricked by Thor has got to sting a little. Leif turned to the god with a frown after hearing his laughter. "You are taking this pretty lightly, Father."

Loki grinned at his son. "I am not, Leif, I assure you. However, I do find it touching that you are so bothered for my sake." Leif scowled at Loki for a moment before his gaze turned harder.

"But you weren't lying back there, were you?" The young man eyed his father suspiciously. "Now that we are alone, I want to hear the truth from you." Loki's smile faded at his words.

"So even you doubt me?" Loki gave a cynical snort. "And I thought that after all these years that at least my own son would trust me even when others do not. It appears I am wrong." The god said bitterly and Leif's gaze softened as he saw the flicker of hurt in his father's eyes.

"I didn't- I did not doubt you." He blurted in his haste to mend the hurt his words have caused. "I just wanted to be sure. I wouldn't have gone against Stark and the others if I didn't trust you." Leif added matter-of-factly.

Loki seemed about to reply when the main door of their apartment swung open and Thor strode in with heavy steps.

"Brother! Nephew!" The Thunderer greeted anxiously but Leif turned on him with a furious glare.

"What are you doing here? Come to drag my father off in chains?" The young man demanded heatedly while Thor gaped at his nephew. Loki sniggered from his spot on the couch.

"Did you hear that, Thor? You are not welcome here." Loki drawled triumphantly and Thor gave him an exasperated look.

"I will do nothing of that sort, Leif." Thor gazed dolefully at his nephew, who continued giving him a withering glare. "I have come to apologise to you and Loki for the earlier confrontation, it was not in my intentions for it to end so bitterly."

"I am sure of that." Loki retorted tartly and Thor heaved a sigh.

"I know you are still unhappy with me, Brother," Thor smiled sadly. "But I assure you that I have indeed come for your help, and nothing more. I will not bring you back to Asgard against your wishes, and I believe you when you say that you are innocent. You are my brother, Loki; I trust you. Father does as well. You would never commit any crime that would endanger Asgard or our family."

Loki blinked in surprise at Thor's speech before his face hardened. The god turned away from his brother's gaze, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge his brother's presence any further and glared at the blank television screen as though it offended him. Thor stared at the back of Loki's head for a moment before giving a tiny cough and turning back to Leif, who appeared considerably less angry after what his uncle said.

"So what are you going to do now?" Leif asked after a while, although his tone was still a little resentful. Thor gave him a tiny smile.

"I shall return to Asgard, and further discuss with the All Father about what is to be done." The Thunder god replied gravely. "The thief will not hide himself forever, and we will need to catch him as soon as he comes out of hiding." Leif gave a nod at his uncle's words and Thor patted him kindly on the shoulder. "Stay safe, Leif, and alert. I will be back as soon as there is any news on the situation." The god then shot a look in his brother's direction. "Do take care of yourself, and your father."

"I will, Uncle." Leif gave him an assuring smile to show that all is forgiven and Thor beamed back. The Thunder god was about to leave the apartment when Loki suddenly stopped him.

"I know of many powerful sorcerers in the nine realms, but none of them have the ability to infiltrate Asgard without alerting Heimdall immediately. At least, not to my knowledge." Loki said grudgingly, decidedly still not turning to look at Thor. However, his brother gave a wide grin at his words.

"Thank you Brother." The Thunder god nodded before flashing Leif one last smile and exiting the apartment. There was a moment's silence following Thor's departure before Leif turned to Loki with an amused grin.

"You act meanly to Uncle, but you are really just a softie on the inside when it comes to him, aren't you?" The young man teased and Loki gave an irritated hiss as he turned back to glare at his son. "Whatever!" Leif defended hurriedly as he saw that Loki seemed about to chew his head off again. "I'm tired, and I am going to sleep!"

Loki watched with amusement as his son retreated quickly back into his room. However, that feeling of mirth soon turned into one of worry as thoughts of the news Thor brought lingered tiresomely in his head.

The Orb of Agamotto and Tablet of Life and Time. Stolen.

Loki was not lying when he said that he knew of no sorcerers that could have infiltrated Asgard. The god knew the seriousness of the situation and he would not lie simply to spite his brother. However, it did not mean that he was completely honest either. He knew of no sorcerers powerful enough, but that did not mean he knew of no sorcerers who may turn potentially powerful enough. Loki gave a tiny frown.

Someone who was skilled in magic and had the ambition to steal from Odin's Weapons' Vault itself? Yes, Loki knew many like that. However, to possess the lunacy and nerve to infiltrate the realm alone, there were few. To possibly know Asgard and the secret pathways leading into it, there could only be one. At least, only one that Loki could possibly think of.

But it couldn't be him, could it?

XXX

Leif stared at the ceiling of his room as he lay back on his bed. Well, glared, more like.

It had not been a good day for him. First he had been rudely interrupted from his date. Then, he had to coax and beg his father to help out at S.H.I.E.L.D, where it ended in Loki being accused and suspected of doing horrible things. Leif heaved a heavy sigh.

Damn it.

After his outburst earlier, Leif was sure that his friends and Fury would not be pleased with him. He wouldn't be surprised if Fury called and yelled at him before firing him later. He wouldn't mind it. Sure, he loved the job, but there were some things more important. Things that frustrated him and goaded him and ate him out of home, popcorn and pop tarts. However, there was a sinking feeling in the young man's stomach even so. He didn't mind losing his job. He didn't mind his friends being mad at him. But he minded if one of the people he considered most important to him lied to him.

And that was the problem: He wasn't sure if he had.

Leif thought back to all those years he had spent with Loki. He thought back to the times that they had laughed and chatted together. He thought back to how he had shared all his secrets with his father, to how Loki always seemed to be there when Leif needed him most. He thought back to the times when they quarrelled and fought. He remembered when Loki lied to him in the past.

Loki had lied to him in the past. His father was the God of Lies after all.

Despite how he trusted his father, despite how much he claimed to trust his father, Leif could not stop the nasty, naggy little voice at the back of his head.

What if he was lying to you?

Leif's phone rang loudly at this point of time and the young man made an irritated grunt before reaching down to his pocket and pulling the offending item out. He glared stonily at the caller ID photo of Nick Fury with his single eye bulging and out-stretched palm covering half the screen before giving a huff and answering the call.

"Lokison, we need you to report back to work tomorrow." Fury said firmly over the line and Leif gave a cynical snort.

"What? You aren't calling to fire me?" Leif asked sarcastically and he could almost imagine the eye roll from Fury's side. There was an annoyed sound from the other end of the line before Fury spoke again.

"Stop being childish, Agent! We are facing a potential catastrophe here and we need all the man power we can get. Starting now, your vacation's cancelled. Report at 8 a.m. sharp tomorrow!" The Director snapped over the phone and hung up promptly before Leif could retort back, leaving young man glaring at his phone and resisting the strong urge to text 'Well, fuck you too!' back to his boss.

After a moment, Leif gave an affronted huff and flung his phone hard into his pillow before closing his eyes in frustration.

So this is it; the perils of being an adult: Life sucks, your boss sucks, and there is nothing you can do about it.

XXX

The target board shattered under the force of the energy pulse and there was a soft whirring noise as another wheeled out to take its place. Leif stared at the new target for a moment before aiming his palm at the target 36 degrees left to the new one. The energy blast he fired hit its mark as well and the board shattered.

Leif was now in one of S.H.I.E.L.D's gyms, or training centres, as Phil Coulson liked to call it. The facilities in these training centres were highly specialised and catered for all agents to hone their individual skills. The facility that Leif was using now is particularly useful for the agent to practise his energy projection skills and accuracy. Target boards were presented at random spots from a distance and it didn't matter how many you have destroyed; an endless supply would appear to take the fallen's place. Clint Barton liked this facility as well, just that he practised with arrows and guns instead. The archer said that the exercise provided him with some sort of release.

Leif agreed whole-heartedly.

This was one of the main reasons why he was here. The other was that he didn't have much to do anyway.

After reporting at 8.05 a.m. that morning, Leif had been briefed shortly by Fury on the details of the future operations in preparation for the potential threat. After nodding and nodding and occasionally stifling a bored yawn much to the ire of the Director, the young agent was told to stand-by temporarily in wait of further orders.

"The individual missions have yet to be finalised. You will stand-by in headquarters for the moment before further orders." Fury said firmly while Leif shot him an incredulous glare. If orders are yet to be finalised, why was he here in the first place?

The young man then decided after a few minutes of concocting a plan to exact revenge on Fury that it would be much better and wiser to spend his time effectively at the gym. He needed to train. Plus, he wanted some time alone to brood about the recent issues instead of mingling around with his colleagues.

Leif's brows furrowed in concentration as he fired a series of quick, rapid energy projections at the surrounding target boards. The shattered pieces dropped to the cold cement floor with dull thuds and constant humming noises of the machinery announced the arrival of new targets. Leif continued his exercise, firing at each new board that presented itself, and lost count of the number he had destroyed. His mind was flooded with a flurry of thoughts about recent and past events, and Leif found himself repeating the training routine unconsciously.

Father could not possibly have lied to me this time. He had promised to turn over a new leaf.

But he had lied in the past...

The past is the past... He hadn't done anything wrong for years now.

But how could you be sure?

"Hey Leif!"

A familiar voice jolted the young man out of his trance and he spun around in surprise, quickly putting on a cheery grin when he saw who it was.

"Good morning Captain," Leif greeted and Steve Rogers flashed him an amused smile.

"It's afternoon actually." The blonde man corrected as he shot a glance at his wristwatch. "Just ten past twelve."

Leif gave a tiny chuckle. "Time flies." He quipped in his defence and Steve gazed at the pile of board rubble on the gym grounds before giving a knowing grin and nod.

"I can see that."

Both men shared a laugh. S.H.I.E.L.D machines that were modelled after much inferior blueprints of Dummy which Tony Stark had provided entered the arena and started clumsily sweeping away the shattered pieces of board on the ground. Leif watched as the machines wheeled out slowly from the room after completing their job and started to focus his aim on the new target boards again.

"Are you going to do that all day?" Steve asked as he observed the young man. Leif glanced at him for a second before giving a shrug and turning back to the targets.

"I mean, those can't be much of a challenge for you, can they? They are not moving targets." Steve added with an upward quirk at the side of his lips. Leif paused for a moment as the recognition of this sentence sank in and the memory of the first sparring match he had with the Captain came into his mind. He turned to the amused man with a smirk.

"So you want to challenge me, old man?" Leif asked with a teasing raise of his eyebrow and Steve grinned.

"Come on, kid."

Leif laughed and followed as the Captain led the way to an old fashioned boxing ring that both men were too familiar with. It didn't matter that S.H.I.E.L.D had a number of technologically enhanced facilities for their agents to train and spar; Steve and Leif always chose this particular ring for their friendly little sessions. Steve said that it gave him a sense of nostalgia. Leif claimed it made him feel more rugged.

As Leif climbed into the ring, Steve grinned down at him and folded his arms firmly.

"All right, first things first, the usual rules apply." Steve shot Leif a wry smile. "No energy projections. No magic. And definitely no illusions." The Captain added the last part as a reminder of how he had embarrassingly plunged out of the ring in the past entered his mind. Leif grinned before forcing his expression into a pout.

"But that's hardly fair." The young man argued. Steve gave an amused chuckle.

"I think it's perfectly fair," The super soldier countered.

Leif was quick to continue their friendly banter. "Oh, says you with the super human serum!"

"Well, I'm not the one with Jotun blood." Steve grinned and Leif gave him a mock scowl. The young man had long accepted his Frost Giant heritage; in fact, he was taking it in a far better stride that Loki was. His father can still be sensitive if issues like these were brought up. Even so, the Avengers were always tactful to their friend, and topics of bloodline were often avoided entirely to prevent any hurt. However, there were still occasions such as this one where they couldn't help but make a joking quip about Leif's 'frosty blood'.

The young man gave a low growl and pounced towards his opponent, throwing a punch which Steve blocked. With that, the sparring match officially started. Steve swung out at the younger man and Leif dodged the blow swiftly, relying on his faster speed and agility against his considerably stronger opponent.

Both men threw punches and kicks and dodged blows that the other aimed. There were instances when one of them weakened in their defences and allowed their opponent a hit, but the struck party would always be up on his feet in a matter of seconds, unwilling to give up the fight that easily. In the flurry of action and rush of adrenaline, neither man noticed as time cunningly slipped by and the match dragged on for almost two hours.

It ended with Leif sitting and panting at the edge of the ring, nursing a few bruised ribs gingerly. Steve Rogers walked towards him and handed him a bottle of water before lowering himself down onto the spot next to his friend and taking a long swig out of his own bottle. Leif smiled appreciatively at the gesture and did the same.

"You seem a little off today, kid," Steve said finally after both of them were properly hydrated. "Is something troubling you?"

Leif startled slightly at his question before giving a tiny dishonest snort.

"What would be troubling me? I am just out of practice." The young man lied easily. "I had been on a vacation." He added as an afterthought. Steve laughed with amusement at his reply.

"Right. For a day." The man replied dryly and Leif grinned in spite of himself. There was another moment of silence as both men stared blankly into the distance and Steve cleared his throat before deciding to press on into the issue.

"It's about Loki, isn't it?" The Captain asked and Leif frowned, not liking where the conversation was heading one bit. He turned to glare at his friend.

"Why would I worry about my father? He is probably either polishing off bowls of popcorn on our couch or spying on me as we speak." Leif retorted and Steve gave an uneasy cough after hearing the young man's words. The soldier then proceeded to gaze around the room warily for a second, amusing Leif to no ends, before continuing the conversation.

"I mean, you seem very bothered by what happened yesterday," Steve pointed out to Leif and the young man's grin faded once more into a scowl. He turned away from the super soldier and decidedly glared into the distance instead of his friend.

"Of course I am. My father was being accused. Who wouldn't be?" Leif asked bitterly and Steve gave a sympathetic smile.

"But it's more than just that, right?" Steve asked as he gazed at the hard look on Leif's face. "I was watching you practise this morning Leif. You were clearly lost in thought, and disorientated." The Captain paused for a moment, wondering how to go on as his younger team mate appeared to be trying to ignore his questions. "I know I might be intruding, but I feel it might be better if you shared your problems instead of keeping them to yourself. You're my friend, kid. I just want to help."

Leif gave the bottle in his hands a hard squeeze, listening to the satisfying crunch of the plastic before turning and staring into Steve's sincere gaze. He knew that Steve meant well. Captain America had always bore the burden of being the team leader on his shoulders; he placed his team before himself and he cared unconditionally for each and every one of his friends. Steve Rogers had been one of the first few Avengers to accept Leif five years ago, and his friendship with the man had always been one that he had treasured. The Captain is someone he could always trust to turn to if he had problems, Leif knew that. The young man heaved a sigh. He supposed sharing his troubles wouldn't hurt.

"Have you ever doubted someone close to you, Cap?" Leif asked finally. "Even when you know that you should give that person your trust, and you just feel so god damned guilty about doubting him?" The young man's grip around his bottle tightened and Steve gave him a rueful smile. "I know I should trust my father. I should believe in him just like how I have claimed when I stood up for him yesterday, but..." Leif trailed off uncertainly.

"But?" Steve questioned gently. Leif gave a heavy sigh.

"But he had lied to me many times in the past." The young man said softly and Steve nodded. He then watched as Leif slumped down glumly for a moment, and wondered what would be the best way to comfort his friend.

"It's natural for you to think that way, Leif." Steve said finally and Leif turned to gaze at him. "People doubt others all the time, it's human nature. If there were no doubts, there can't be trust." The man explained matter-of-factly. "Trust is something honed, something that must be built over time. Soldiers in war don't just trust their comrades or commanders right from the start, even if that bit of trust is essential for what they do. They build up that trust from scratch. The doubts they had may stifle them, but as each one is overcome, it strengthens their bonds even more. That's precisely how the Avengers came to be a team, isn't it," Steve added with a smile. "We weren't all best pals from the start."

Leif nodded slowly at his friend's words; however, there was still a nagging feeling at the back of his head.

"But trust is easily broken as well." The young man pointed out flatly and Steve chuckled; it was as though he had expected Leif to say that.

"Yes it is," The Captain agreed readily. "But that doesn't mean it can never be fixed." He added. Leif gave a tiny frown at his words and Steve sighed. "I know Loki isn't the most honest person, and I would be lying if I said I didn't suspect him of being the thief at first." He admitted and gazed at Leif somewhat sheepishly. "But Thor made a valid point yesterday: Innocent until proven guilty." Leif blinked in surprise for a moment.

Uncle said that?

"And it's true, I guess. We should never jump to conclusions about others based on their past, especially if we had all agreed to give him a second chance." Steve continued solemnly. "Everyone has some good within them, that's why people are willing to give second chances. It's supposed to be a fresh start. Many good men and women wouldn't be in S.H.I.E.L.D now if we didn't forgive their pasts." The man stated matter-of-factly and Leif smiled at his words. Yes, in fact, if there were no second chances, the Avengers would never have been formed.

"Besides, I bet someone who is willing to place himself under S.H.I.E.L.D's heavy surveillance for years just to be with a loved one can't be completely evil. It's pretty pressurising." Steve added with a teasing grin and Leif replied with a smirk and a friendly punch to the man's arm. Steve laughed. "Seriously, kid. I've been observing Loki all these years, and although I can't honestly say I trust him, I believe he does love you. Every father cares for his son, after all."

After listening to his friend's words, Leif felt a sudden surge of emotion welling up in his heart. Yes, Loki had done so much for him in the past few years. Despite his pride, the god had willingly subjected himself to the scrutiny of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D, even giving in to their requests for help just to fulfil the conditions for him to stay with his son. Loki had worked hard to mend their relationship, and Leif should put an equal amount of effort in defending it.

Leif flashed Steve a grateful smile. "Thanks Steve."

"You're welcome, kid." The man replied amiably. Leif clicked his tongue in mild distaste of his nickname before deciding to take the serious conversation on a lighter tone. After all, it would hardly be fair if he was the only one spilling all the secrets, would it?

"You are awfully wise, old man." Leif teased and Steve chuckled at the quip.

"I'm officially more than 90 years old," The Captain replied jokingly. "It'll kind of suck if there weren't any perks to that."

Leif smirked. "You must have spoken from experience, haven't you?" The young man grinned slyly. "Well out with it, ever wrongly accused someone?"

Steve paused for a moment at his words before a memory of him and a woman he loved dearly flashed in his mind. He gave a wry smile.

"Yeah, I did." He confessed and Leif's grin grew wider.

"Oh? And who was it that triggered such doubts in our virtuous Captain?" He asked with a gleam in his eyes. Steve glared at his teasing friend.

"You know what? You're picking up Tony's bad habits." Steve retorted and gave a grin when he saw Leif's scowl. "It's Peggy." The man confessed after a moment and Leif chuckled. Oh, he had heard about Peggy Carter from Steve, the man appear enamoured every time he spoke of the fiery, spirited woman.

"Your girlfriend?" He quipped and noted with amusement the slight hint of embarrassment appearing on Steve's face. "So what happened?"

Steve gave a little cough. "Well, I may have mistaken her and Tony's dad to be... erm... fondue-ing." The Captain broke off with a sheepish grin as Leif roared with laughter. The young man then wiped a tear of mirth from his eye and stared at Steve with amusement.

"How did that end?" The young man asked eagerly and Steve chuckled at the recollection.

"I guess you could say it was the first time I tested my shield." The man grinned as Leif gave another howl of laughter and slapped him amiably on the back.

The two men then shared appreciative looks before turning away to gaze peacefully into the distance, lost in their thoughts as one reminisced the past and the other contemplated the present.


End file.
